There are regionally different markets for a portion of cut ham slices which slices are placed on a so-called L-board and are packed in a packaging machine in an airtight manner. A difference between these markets is, for example, that the sliced ham portion is placed on the L-board in different orientations. The L-board serves as a stable support for the product in the subsequent production process and also stabilizes the later package. The L-board may be a coated plate made of cardboard, which has a bending line to fold over the part not covered by the product onto the product. Thus, a part of the product is covered. In a first position the short side not covered by the product is folded over to cover the part of the product with the higher fat content, while in another, opposite position of the portion on the L-board it is folded over the lean part of the product to keep the fat content visible.
Cutting machines, so-called slicers, can often only slice portions that have a single shingle direction. When bringing the portion and the L-board together, i.e. when the portion is placed on the L-board, it is common practice to provide the L-board in different positions. Deep-drawing machines comprise a sealing station for applying a cover film. If the L-boards, which were placed into troughs formed in a lower film, are oriented such that the free parts of the L-board still to be folded over are oriented in the forward production direction, static hold down devices are provided on or upstream of the sealing device to fold over the free part of the L-board onto the product during the motion into the sealing station.
However, if the L-boards are oriented opposite to the production direction and the free part of the L-boards has a trailing orientation, it is currently common practice that operating staff are present in the region of the loading section which is located upstream of the sealing station. In this case of orientation the operating staff have the task of folding over the free part manually before the transport into the sealing station. This may produce unusable packages if the operating staff forget to fold over the free part of an L-board or if the folding over is carried out insufficiently.